“The retreat is to determine three things: What will RIT’s role be in this arena and what role will we have in new AI discoveries,” Provost Jeremy Haefner told RIT News. “From the education point of view, how should RIT prepare its students for the inevitable future where some of the skills they learn today may be done by a machine in the future? And what can RIT do to augment technology on campus to better fulfill its mission?”

Haefner named the retreat “Move78,” a reference to a game of Go between Google’s computer system AlphaGo and Lee Sedol, a top Go player, in which the computer bested Sedol by “learning” and anticipating moves. “The encounter raised questions about the potential of AI and how humans will rise to the challenge. It also raised questions about RIT’s role in these challenges,” according to RIT News.

Building off the success of the retreat, the seminar series will delve deeper into machine learning, neuromorphic computing, computer vision and other topics. It begins Monday, March 27 and runs successive Mondays through the remainder of the academic year. It is open to faculty and staff retreat participants.